A NEW ERA ARISES

Even as present weapons have made all previous technology inadequate, so is the future pattern of conflict being drawn today. Here, rising into position, Ajax missiles thrust their noses toward the sky as crews of the 531st Anti-Aircraft Battalion (Nike) run for their underground shelters at one of the launching sites surrounding Ellsworth Air Force Base. Crews have completed last minute check on the missiles which are rising to their vertical shelf positions in a test alert, although the Nikes will be fired only in case of an enemy attack. Guided solely by radar, the supersonic Nike family are the only operational surface-to-air missiles in teh U.S. arsenal. Four batteries, each with 12 launches, ring Ellsworth to protect the installation and Rapid City. (Strategic Air Command archives)

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